New Year's Eve was always a big celebration when I was growing up. My set of honorary parents hosted a huge party every year at their house way out in the sticks. There where at least 100 people there with all of their kids and teenagers tagging along. Everyone would come with their signature dish and a 6-pack of beer in their hand. It was always the same group of people. The ...
Side Dishes
Easy Black Bean Salad
After nearly 3 years in our “new” house, we are finally getting around to actually doing some home improvement. A few weeks ago, my husband and I, with the help of a family friend who actually knows what they are doing, built a deck off the side of our house. It’s a good size deck coming in at about 200 square feet, enough for a table and a fire pit and visions of parties and ...
Easy Keto Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower
Cauliflower is everywhere. You can't swing a dead cat on the internet without hitting some kind of recipe made with cauliflower. It's the darling of the low carb world, making all of your favorite carb loaded dishes possible again. The thing with cauliflower it seems though is that no one wants to eat it all by itself, because it's not all that appealing. You really have to ...
Spring Parmesan Pasta
Spring Parmesan Pasta is a colorful and vibrant recipe that perfectly showcases the season's freshest veggies. Peas and Swiss chard are the heros of this version, but you could easily substitute the fresh veg coming out of your own garden. If you know me, then you know that I am not a religious person. It’s not a thing I wave around like a flag, but it’s not a big ...
Zucchini Cheddar Hushpuppies
Zucchini Cheddar Hushpuppies are a quick an delicious Summer side dish perfect for barbeques and fish frys. Use up all that zucchini with these puppies! Summer, for us, is just about over. My babies will have their very first day of kindergarten in 3 weeks! Almost all of the school supply shopping is finished. The new Tinkerbell and Cars backpacks are loaded down with ...
Asparagus Gremolata
Spring has certainly arrived here in the South and it has brought buckets of pollen with it. Everything I own is covered with a fine layer of yellow dust. Sneezes, snotty noses, and watery eyes are the standard fare for everyone in our family. We have all developed a close, personal relationship with our allergy meds. Other than the stuffy noses, all of our plants and ...
Classic Caesar Salad
Classic Caesar Salad isn't hard to make, in fact it can be a simple and inexpensive salad to accompany dinner. Top it with grilled chicken or salmon and it makes an excellent dinner! I've been a little obsessed with classic Caesar salads lately. Maybe it's because it so hard to find a really good one. Or maybe it corresponds with my other new obsession, anchovy paste. It ...
Roasted Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts
Roasted Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts is a quick and easy addition to any meal. Covered in cheese and bacon and then roasted to perfection, these are not your grandmas Brussels sprouts. I'm a little late to the Brussels Sprouts train. They aren't really in season but they are in my grocery store and I couldn't pass them up. I love Brussels sprouts. I had my first one ...
Spicy Black Eye Pea Salad
I consider myself a good Southerner and I tend to stick to tradition as much as anyone when it comes to welcoming in a new year. I never hang up my new calendar for the new year until January 1st ( much to my daughter's chagrin) and I always eat my black eye peas on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. That's not to say that I get up and particularly look forward to eating a big ...
Homemade Ruffles Potato Chips
Never buy a bag of potato chips again! Make your own Homemade Ruffles Potato Chips from scratch! Cheap and easy and lots of fun to eat. I'm not sure that I have ever heard of anyone who doesn't love potato chips. I've heard of folks who can't eat potato chips, or "try not" to eat potato chips, and a few people who say potato chips go straight to their thighs, but I can't ...
Purple Parsley Potatoes
Say that 3 times fast. Purple Parsley Potatoes. Purple Parsley Potatoes... I can't even type that 3 times fast. Anywoo, I bought these cute purple potatoes at the store last week. They were on sale, but still a bit of a splurge. I just couldn't resist the color. It's just so PURPLE! How can you not want to eat a purple food? It's impossible not to be at least a little ...
Roasted Acorn Squash
Halloween was awesome. The best year yet. I haven't had that much fun on Halloween since I was a teenager rolling ( that's Southern for TPing) the sheriff's backyard. The kids were so stinking cute and collected a lot of candy which I will probably eat most of. Holiday weight here I come!! Of course, after Halloween comes November. November is a crazy month for us. Why so ...
Hoppin’ John and how to Shop at the Farmer’s Market
I have been going to the new local Farmer's Market pretty regularly this summer. After doing a lot of reading on the subject of food over the past few months, I decided that working local food into the budget would really be a benefit for our family. Although I had planned on increasing the food budget to allow for the higher prices of local food, I have found that as ...
Kid Friendly Baked Zucchini Fries
I remember when my kids were a little over a year old. They had finally gotten enough teeth in their precious little heads to make the big jump from baby food to "big people" food and I was so excited. I could almost hear my monthly grocery bill dropping. No more tiny little jars, no more cans of Wagon Wheels, no more rice cereal! Then as I got a few days in to feeding them a ...
Cheddar Fried Squash
Cheddar Fried Squash is an easy and delicious way to jazz up your fridge full of squash or zucchini! Kids love it too! You know summer is in full swing when the squash and zucchini starts coming in. I have memories of mysterious 5 gallon buckets full of zucchini and summer squash showing up on our back door when I was a kid. While my mother always welcomed free ...